As we prepare to welcome our fifth sweet baby into the world, I thought it would be fun to share each of our kiddos’ birth stories. Each one is unique and perfect in its own way, and I’m thankful for the twists and turns of each! For those not looking for ALL the details, you may want to skip these posts. This is the second story in the series of four (for now), until I’m able to share our newest addition’s special story.
Lucy was born on June 21, 2014 at 4:57 am. But the story actually begins the day prior, which just so happened to be my 30th birthday. I was 39 weeks pregnant on my 30th birthday and pretty miserable, but trying to rally and enjoy the day. I had a morning doctor’s appointment at which my midwife stripped my membranes to try and induce labor, as my blood pressure was creeping up the the gestational hypertension range. She warned me that I’d probably feel crampy and off the rest of the day, and may even have some bleeding, so I was prepared for that. What I wasn’t prepared for was absolutely nothing…nada…zip. No contractions, no cramping, no spotting. Boo! But, I was able to go and meet my two best friends for lunch nearby and they did a great job taking my mind off the baby and enjoying my birthday for a few hours.
That night, we had a little family celebration at home and went to bed early. Around 1:30 am, I rolled out of bed thinking I had to go to the bathroom, and realized quickly that my water had actually broken and contractions were coming on hard and fast. I woke Rich up and hopped in the shower while he grabbed all of Avah’s overnight stuff and the hospital bag and got them in the car. Within the hour we were headed to the hospital, with Avah in tow, as our friend Molly was going to meet us at the hospital and take her home for a sleepover at their house. By the time we met Molly at the hospital, I was already having the urge to push, so we very quickly said goodbye and got up to the labor and delivery floor. By the time I got setup in a delivery room, Lucy came roaring into the world within about 30 minutes! Lucy weighed 9lbs 2 ozs and was 20.5 inches long at birth.
Once again, I was thankful to have the chance to have an unmedicated vaginal birth under the care of the same midwife I’d had deliver Avah. Rich was an amazing support partner, and the labor was so fast and furious, I really don’t feel like I had time to process everything that was going on before she was in my arms! My healing took about 3 weeks postpartum to stop bleeding and overall, everything went as well as we could have hoped for. We used the same birth plan we’d had with Avah, and it was great to have that as a resource when we made the decision to have my membranes stripped as our first option of inducement. I definitely think that helped the process along, and was also thankful it wasn’t immediate so that Lucy had her own birthday rather than having to share one with her Mama!
